Haraz N. Ghanbari/Associated Press Bertha Lewis, Acorn chief executive
But if critics and even some supporters are looking for an “apology tour,” they are not getting one.
Ms. Lewis, rather, provided a defiant answer to her critics, even while acknowledging that the behavior of the Acorn workers who were caught on tape was unacceptable, and that her organization – whose full name is the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now – is still pursuing needed structural improvements.
She decried a “modern-day Acorn McCarthyism,’’ and blamed some of the group’s current problems on its more than 40-year history of “going after the rich and the powerful.”
She said that through years of mismanagement that predated her start as the interim chief executive last year, and through the misguided actions of some employees, “In a way we’ve aided and abetted our attackers.”
But, she said, some workers caught on the tapes – all of whom have been fired – had suspended their judgment of the woman they took to be a young prostitute, out of a misplaced sense of sympathy.
And, ticking through Acorn’s work in housing, minority lending and on workers’ issues since its founding in the 1970’s, Ms. Lewis vowed, “Nothing will ever be able to wipe away those forty years of work, and nothing will stop us from forty more.”
Yet the question-and-answer session at what was a sparsely attended gathering, underscored how the challenges to the group’s future continue to mount.
Her first question concerned Louisiana Attorney General James Caldwell’s investigation into whether the amount of money embezzled from Acorn by Dale Rathke, the brother of the group’s founder Wade Rathke – who was ejected from his leadership role at ACORN for failing to disclose the theft — was $5 million, and not less than $1 million, as the group has previously reported. (Ms. Lewis has placed much of the blame for the group’s internal dysfunction on Wade Rathke, saying this morning, “We admitted last year that we didn’t think we were well-managed; this is why the board fired the former chief organizer.” She said she began hiring consultants and lawyers to help streamline Acorn’s management upon taking over.)
Ms. Lewis attributed the allegation to two disgruntled, former board members in Louisiana and said an audit found that Dale Rathke’s embezzlement amounted to slightly less than $950,000.
Update: With news of the Louisiana Attorney General’s investigation into the $5 million figure picking up steam this afternoon, Acorn has released a new statement further explaining the provenance of the allegation, which it says is wrong.
From the Acorn release: “At the October 2008, Acorn board meeting, newly installed C.E.O. Bertha Lewis speculated that the costs of cleaning up after Acorn founder Wade Rathke’s departure might, at the outside, cost as much as $5 million. Ms. Lewis was referring to such expenses as bringing in more professional management, updating the organization’s accounting and financial systems, and paying off back debts, including unpaid taxes.
According to Acorn President Maude Hurd: “The $5 million figure was an off-handed remark by Bertha as a worst-case scenario for what it could potentially cost to get everything together. Lawyers, accountants and consultants were quite expensive, and the Board needed to know that. Bertha’s remarks have since been taken out of context.”
That said, the Republican National Lawyers Association called on Tuesday for a special prosecutor to investigate Acorn’s operations.
At the meeting with the press this morning, Ms. Lewis also was asked about her connection to the White House political director Patrick Gaspard – linkage frequently highlighted in conservative media — Ms. Lewis said while the two had worked together to form the Working Families Party in New York, she had not spoken to him since he went to work for President Obama’s campaign last year. “This is sort of like guilt by association,’’ she said, “because Patrick Gaspard and I had worked together in the past, somehow or another there’s a sinister, Acorn-White House connection.’’
And, asked about how bills in Congress that would strip Acorn of all federal funding would affect the organization, she indicated it would force the group to curtail some of its services but that the amount represented 10 percent of the organization’s budget.
“As long as there’s one Acorn member who’s willing to have a meeting in their house, or one church that allows us to have a meeting in their basement,’’ she said, “We will go on.”
From 1 to 25 of 73 Comments
Barack Obama won a landslide election, & many on the far right still think ACORN rigged it…
You don’t hear Democrats complaining about the 2000 & 2004 elections, which WERE close elections…
There is a far greater chance elections 00 & 04 were rigged than 08…
— RickI think that ACORN is being scapegoated some here… There are those in this country who think that ACORN is the cause of some really big problems…like what? Okay they have a few bad apples over there at ACORN…
What does ACORN really control? Anything? Are they sending jobs overseas? Are they splitting up viable companies to make a quick buck? Have they sent corporations by the score to hold off shore addresses to get out of paying taxes? Have they started any wars illegally? Has ACORN made billions of dollars in bad investments? Has ACORN created any Ponzi schemes?
Well no. ACORN is really small potatoes. ACORN registers citizens to vote…So what is the big deal being made about this? Stop and think about who wins if ACORN goes down…Who wins by keeping the vote down?
— rmcIt is a shame that this organization has been so poorly managed, and that some members of the organization have engaged in inappropriate actions. ACORN’s mission and goals have been abused by the Republican Party, and these ‘gotcha’ videographers will probably succeed in putting an end to their funding.
The real shame is that the work of ACORN still needs to be done. Don’t expect Wall Street or the Republican party to step up and look after the problems of those who have fallen through the cracks in our society. They have no interest whatsoever in social or economic justice, and they will fight with all of their resources to keep these people down.
— HDObama needs to direct the attorney general to investigate ACORN. That will be a true step towards Obama’s promise of transparency.
— Jane SmithWhen will the Times discuss Forest City Ratner’s $500,000 gift and $1 million low interest bail out of ACORN in its news pages?
— brokelandWhatever!
Ignore the fact that Fox News is the news agency that caught ACORN. Dateline NBC has done similar work for years, and is usually thanked for uncovering and exposing criminal activity.
Ignore the fact that many of ACORN’s original set of core values are still among their core values and those values are good. There are surely a large number of well-meaning, best intentioned people doing good work for that organization.
Regardless of ideology or political lean, what should happen here is an extensive audit by serious professionals. It could be by the IRS or maybe something sanctioned by the AICPA, whose professional ethics and reputation would require a detailed yet fair and balanced result. If ACORN withstands a serious audit by a respected, non-partisan, numbers-crunching entity, then America will give them a pass and support the group.
As long as ACORN stonewalls, postures, point fingers, makes excuses, and promises not to go quietly, it sounds more and more like it is as guilty as sin.
— Ed“In a way we’ve aided and abetted our attackers.” – Exactly right. And for that lack of organizational control ACORN should simply not receive any government funding.
— fredHow can Republicans and Wall Street be responsible for ACORN members’ theft of any monies at all? If ACORN was really as interested in helping poor people obtain jobs, homes, loans, start a business, etc….very noble and worthwhile ideas, but how can you justify the brothers Rathke and a few select others living high on the hog while thier “volunteers” and “workers” are making peanuts? Then they steal from their own? Ever heard of plantation politics? Seems that is what the Rathke brothers believe in.
— ColleenThe fault is ACORN’s own in not policing themselves. Wall Street and the Republicans had NOTHING to do with theft, graft, voter fraud, shake down and scare tactis!
Good for her. If only conservatives would go after Halliburton with the same intensity!
It is a witchhunt. In no way do I condone mistakes made by employees of this organization but I do applaud the steps they have taken to make appropriate corrections. Republicans are crowing about how they are holding back chump-change funding from a group that empowers underpriviledge citizens. In the meantime, the bonuses are as big as ever over on Wall Street. How brave the Republicans are – kicking around this grassroots group! Acorn is so much more of a danger to American society than AIG malfeasance, GM mismanagement, and the outright thuggery of the healthcare industry.
I feel like it’s a Twilight Zone episode.
— renACORN has been grossly mismanaged and is festering with scandal and corruption. Too bad it wasn’t run like the banks, brokerage houses, insurers, auto companies, government contractors….ooops! Never mind.
— ny independentRight now the buck stops with Lewis and she needs to admit that. ACORN obviously has been hiring people who are incompetent except in the field of criminality.
There needs to be an accounting of all the federal and state dollars that ACORN has garnered over the years, including the nearly $1 million embezzled by Dale Rathke, brother of ACORN founder Wade Rathke.
Believe it or not, even the Catholic Church was funding ACORN via its Catholic Campaign for Human Development. The Church finally cut its funding to ACORN in 2008 after the embezzlement scandal was revealed.
— judithodRick, are you kidding me! The left ranted and raved over the elections of 2000 and 2004, as was their right. By the way, 6% of the popular vote is no “landslide,” it is a clear win and I’m not saying there was any vote rigging on that scale.
— AndyI don’t think ACORN is as evil as Glen Beck says it is, but I do think it has been mismanaged, and if it were entirely funded by private investors they wouldn’t have all the press FOX is giving them. Unfortunately ACORN has been given tax dollars and once an organization has taxpayers’ money to use it needs to be ten times more careful about how it runs things.
“Social entrepreneurs” need to make a profit too, eh?
— Steve BolgerWhy are we still talking about this group. They all sould be locked away, disbanded. Why do we have this group doing the jobs of federal people. This is a counterfeit organiation, corrupt to the core. No more of my hard tax dollars should be used to fund them. They are a disgrace and anyone else who might be supporting them. I am sick of this group.
— charleneThis woman is delusional and fighting for her own livelihood and power, not the interests of the poor. I don’t see how even the most liberal person isn’t embarrassed by the trainwreck that is ACORN.
— katieGand the moral of the story is….
you can electrocute troops through faulty wiring, you can murder iraqi citizens, you can defraud the govt by not fulfilling contracts….anything goes if you’re a politically connected defense contracter…..
but never, never, never try to earn your keep by helping the poor or your govt funding goes pfffft.
— JP, jersey city, njThis has turned in a real witch hunt. Patrick Gaspard knew Bertha Lewis once – or something – therefore, Obama wants to help prostitutes. He may even have used prostitutes! Impeachment!
Get real. ACORN made some mistakes, but it seems they are cleaning up their act. Take a deep breathe
— dan marburyI want to see an IRS audit of ACORN and every affiliate it ever wrote a check to or got a check from. I also wonder how much these organizations owe in back taxes, including payroll taxes withheld from employee paychecks. No one is above the law, no matter how noble sounding their mission.
— Jim OglethorpeIf there is fraud there needs to be jail time whether you name is ACORN or Boeing or KBR. The Democrats had the sense to bail on ACORN but the Republicans are in bed with their crooks and defend them. Disgusting.
— Pete T“Pentagon Fraud and the ACORN Standard — The Senate will resume debate on Tuesday of the defense appropriations bill. The measure includes a measure by Sen. Bernie Sanders that would require the Department of Defense to calculate how much the Pentagon pays companies that committed fraud.
Sanders contrasted the sweeping scope of defense contractor fraud to misdeeds by a few employees of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. The ACORN workers were fired for what Sanders called “an outrageous and absurd discussion with actors.” The sledge-hammer response in the House of Representatives and the Senate was to cut off federal funds for ACORN.
‘Virtually every major defense contractor in this country has been engaged in systemic, illegal, and fraudulent behavior, while receiving hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money. We’re not talking here about the $53 million that ACORN received over 15 years. We’re in fact talking about defense contractors who have received many, many billions in defense contracts and year after year, time after time, violated the law, ripping off the taxpayers of this country big time,’ Sanders said.
Sanders’ measure also would make the Pentagon recommend how to penalize contractors that repeatedly cheated the government out of hundreds of millions of dollars. According to the nonpartisan Project on Government Oversight, the three largest government contractors – Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman – all have a history riddled with fraud and other illegal behavior. Altogether, the three companies engaged in 109 instances of misconduct since 1995, and were fined $2.9 billion. How were they punished? In one year alone, the big-three pocketed $77 billion in government contracts in 2007.” (from Sen. Sanders website)
Let’s go after the real fraud.
— BKThe story waiting to break is all the lawsuits filed against ACORN for irs mistreatment of its employees. They make their charges against Walmart a joke.
As for the McCarthy reference, just google CIA and The Pond. For over 5 years the CIA has had on its own website its confession of what it did to McCarthy. For reasons unclear, the press has never covered this story. But after you read it, your entire view of the “McCarthy” era will be turned upside down.
— Michael FloresReal people do not care about ACORN or whatever controversy Fox News and the GOP is trying to stir up. Yes, it is one of thousands of organization with severe internal problems. No, that does not make it headline news.
http://www.political-buzz.com/
— mattTo Andy #12,
With all due respect, Obama’s win was a landslide….53% of the popular vote is impressive….Reagan had 58% in his 1984 landslide….Getting 60% of the popular vote in these polorizing times will be near impossible…I think LBJ was last person to receive 60% of the popular vote…
As far as ACORN, sure there has been some wrongdoing, but the Republican witch-hunt is going too far….Maybe if Republicans went after Halliburton or Blackwater with the same fervor, they’d have some credibility….
— RickAndy — Are you also calling for an investigation of Catholic Charities?
They’ve received on the order of $1000 in federal money for every $1 that ACORN has received while the Catholic Church spent years covering up the sexual abuse of children committed by their clergy.
They even transferred known sexual predators to different parishes where they practiced their abuse on new sets of victims.
How many Catholic priests abused children while doing charity work on the public’s dime?
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/crime/story/75402.html
— TietjensDIEBOLD did far more damage to this nation than ACORN.
— John